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The Liberation of Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin

As society evolves into a globalized entity, it comes with its pros and cons. To expound further, society remains filled with both praiseworthy things and things deserving of condemnation. To begin, society in America has made significant progress since its conception.

To name a few, the include societal breakthroughs for African Americans, women, and other minority groups. For those unaware, the United States of America remains a cauldron of people from across the world. As a result, the nation remains accepting of numerous people and cultures.

However, America also possesses a dark side. Aside from killing millions of Native Americans, this nation’s architecture remains the product of enslaved Africans who remained forcibly removed from Africa.

Aside from their enslavement, African Americans had to endure segregation, discrimination, and so forth. In addition, women’s struggle for freedom also remains noteworthy. Historically, Women have remained marginalized and disenfranchised from the workplace.

Fortunately, times have changed. However, the United States has a long way to go when it comes to equality. In recent news, anti-immigration sentiment in the United States has grown considerably. This remains preposterous due to the nature of U.S. citizenship. To expound further, the United States remains a nation of immigrants.

Moreover, the country would have remained nonexistent without the help for immigration. However, Latinos have remained the victims of such sentiment. In additions, Latinos remain targeted by the police and law enforcement simply because they possess Latino ancestry. Therefore, numerous activists have stepped up to the plate. To expound further, these activists have risked their lives, freedom, and overall well-being to support the cause of equal rights. Moreover, these activists have galvanized the consciousness of American people in order to bring an end to such injustices. With that being said, Lacey and Jim remain the activists in reference.

In particular, these men have remained targeted by the police department of Maricopa County. To expound further, Sheriff Joe Arpaio had these men illegally arrested in their homes during midnight. Moreover, the arrest took place on October 18, 2007.

Then, these men remained incarcerated due to exposing grand jury proceedings that demanded reporters’ notations on articles pertaining to the Sheriff. In addition, grand jury proceedings requested the identity of all of the citizens who read New Times stories on the internet pertaining to law enforcement. However, such proceedings violated the First Amendment rights of Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin.

As a result, both men sued Maricopa County and won. Moreover, they won their case after it went to the United States Court of Appeals for the ninth circuit. With that being said, they won $3.75 million dollars from the case. However, they donated their funds to additional organizations that fought for the rights of migrant workers.